## Elementary Reactions Differential Rate Law

$K = \frac{k_{forward}}{k_{reverse}}$

Michelle Dong 1F
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:04 am

### Elementary Reactions Differential Rate Law

Just to clarify, we can't find the differential rate law for a complete reaction, just an elementary reaction? Why is that?

Riya Pathare 2E
Posts: 74
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:01 am
Been upvoted: 1 time

### Re: Elementary Reactions Differential Rate Law

Differential rate laws can only be committed from experimental data like a linear graph or table of reactions but mechanisms can be computed from their elementary equations.

Anna Okabe
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:06 am

### Re: Elementary Reactions Differential Rate Law

We can't find the rate law for a complete reaction because we don't know the whole process the reaction took to reach the final products. Unlike for thermodynamics, kinetics is not a state property, so the path it takes counts. Therefore it must be broken up into elementary steps.